Council members are urging residents to attend the 6:30 p.m. meeting, which will cap a five-month-long charter review process. Any changes approved by the council will be put before voters in the March 27 election.

Councilman Joe Fraught said whatever changes are approved on Monday will affect the way the city is run.

"This is something they should be interested in," he said, "I think if they understood that there are some consequences down the road then they'd be interested."

The proposals, if approved, would determine the mayor's ability to transfer money within a city department, how much of the city budget should be devoted to capital improvements and to salaries and benefits, and the council's ability to hire independent counsel, among other changes.

Slidell Mayor Ben Morris

Mayor Ben Morris has been an outspoken critic of the amendments, which he has called an attempt to micromanage the administration.

Charter Review Committee members Kim Harbison and Bill Borchert voted against the changes throughout the review process, but they were consistently outvoted by members Fraught, Ray Canada, and Lionel Hicks, who have said the amendments will ensure fiscal responsibility.

Two of the proposed changes state that 4 percent of the city's operating revenue must be devoted each year to infrastructure projects and that no more than 54 percent of the city's operating revenue can be allocated to salaries and benefits.

Another item would prohibit the mayor from transferring money within a department without council approval. Now, the mayor needs approval only to transfer money from one department to another.

The committee also approved a proposal to let the council hire its own attorney, a move that Fraught has said is necessary because while the council now may hire its own legal counsel, the mayor retains power over the attorney's selection and pay.